Eugene T. Wood, CPA, PC A Professional Corporation
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It was recently pointed out to us by a client that he received an e-mail from somone claiming to be the IRS. The e-mail said he had a refund and just needed some information - THIS IS A SCAM! The IRS does NOT e-mail you asking for information; this is also true for banks and prize companies. Please guard your identity - we do.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has removed the requirement that U.S. companies and U.S. persons must report beneficial ownership information (BOI) to FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act.


Melanie Krause, the IRS’s Chief Operating Officer, has been named acting IRS Commissioner following the retirement of Doug O’Donnell. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged O’Donnell’s 38 years of service, commending his leadership and dedication to taxpayers.


A grant disbursement to a corporation to be used for rent payments following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center was not excluded from the corporation's gross income. Grants were made to affected businesses with funding provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The corporation's grant agreement required the corporation to employ a certain number of people in New York City, with a portion of those people employed in lower Manhattan for a period of time. Pursuant to this agreement, the corporation requested a disbursement as reimbursement for rent expenses.


The parent corporation of two tiers of controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) with a domestic partnership interposed between the two tiers was not entitled to deemed paid foreign tax credits under Code Sec. 902 or Code Sec. 960 for taxes paid or accrued by the lower-tier CFCs owned by the domestic partnership. Code Sec. 902 did not apply because there was no dividend distribution. Code Sec. 960 did not apply because the Code Sec. 951(a) inclusions with respect to the lower-tier CFCs were not taken into account by the domestic corporation.


An appeals court affirmed that payments made by an individual taxpayer to his ex-wife did not meet the statutory criteria for deductible alimony. The taxpayer claimed said payments were deductible alimony on his federal tax returns.


Tax writers in Congress are set to begin debating and writing tax reform legislation. On September 27, the White House and GOP leaders in Congress released a framework for tax reform. The framework sets out broad principles for tax reform, leaving the details to the two tax-writing committees: the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. How quickly lawmakers will write and pass tax legislation is unclear. What is clear is that tax reform is definitely one of the top issues on Congress’ Fall agenda.


Under a flexible spending arrangement (FSA), an amount is credited to an account that is used to reimburse an employee, generally, for health care or dependent care expenses. The employer must maintain the FSA. Amounts may be contributed to the account under an employee salary reduction agreement or through employer contributions.

Whether a parent who employs his or her child in a family business must withhold FICA and pay FUTA taxes will depend on the age of the teenager, the amount of income the teenager earns and the type of business.

If you pay for domestic-type services in your home, you may be considered a "domestic employer" for purposes of employment taxes. As a domestic employer, you in turn may be required to report, withhold, and pay employment taxes on a calendar-year basis. The reporting rules apply to both FICA and FUTA taxes, as well as to income taxes that domestic employees elect to have withheld from their wages. The FICA tax rate, applied separately to the employer's share and the employee's share, is 7.65 percent.

With all the different tax breaks for taxpayers with children - from the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to the dependent care and child tax credits - you may be wondering who exactly is a "child" for purposes of these incentives. Is there a uniform definition in the Tax Code, or does the definition of a "child" vary according to each tax break?

The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (2004 Jobs Act) changed the rules for start-up expenses in both favorable and unfavorable ways. Start-up expenditures are amounts that would have been deductible as trade or business expenses, had they not been paid or incurred before the business began. Prior to the 2004 Jobs Act, a taxpayer had to file an election to amortize start-up expenditures over a period of not less than 60 months, no later than the due date for the tax year in which the trade or business begins.

Most homeowners have found that over the past five to ten years, real estate -especially the home in which they live-- has proven to be a great investment. When the 1997 Tax Law passed, most homeowners assumed that the eventual sale of their home would be tax free. At that time, Congress exempted from tax at least $250,000 of gain on the sale of a principal residence; $500,000 if a joint return was filed. Now, those exemption amounts, which are not adjusted for inflation, don't seem too generous for many homeowners.